NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Nov. 24, 1998
Media Advisory 98-82
TODAY'S SUMMARY:
* TRMM Completes One Year Of Dramatic Weather Observations
* NASA Video File for Nov. 24, 1998
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TRMM COMPLETES ONE YEAR OF DRAMATIC WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
The world's first space mission dedicated to observing
and understanding tropical rainfall has successfully
completed its first year of continuous data-gathering.
Launched last fall, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM) spacecraft continues to provide exciting new insight
into cloud and precipitation systems over the tropics.
Changes in wind patterns generated by these tropical systems
spread across the globe to impact weather patterns
everywhere. TRMM is a joint U.S.-Japanese mission that was
launched on Nov. 27, 1997, from the National Space
Development Agency at Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. The
TRMM satellite has produced continuous data since Dec. 8,
1997.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: David E.
Steitz 202/358-1730.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Allen Kenitzer 301/286-2806.
Full text available at:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-212.txt
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If additional news releases are issued later today, summaries
and Internet URLs will be e-mailed to this list.
Index of NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1998/index.html
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VIDEO FILE FOR NOV. 24, 1998
ITEM 1: TRMM COMPLETES ONE YEAR OF DRAMATIC WEATHER
OBSERVATIONS
Video accompanying press release, TRMM Completes One
Year Of Dramatic Weather Observations, summarized above.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Allen Kenitzer 301/286-2806.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.
ITEM 2: THE MYTH OF THE EXPANDING SAHARA DESERT
Nearly two decades of satellite data show that rainfall,
not humans, controls the size of the Sahara. The
Sahelian/Sahara border has received a lot of attention
because in very dry years, the border moves south. In the
1970s and early 1980s, this gave the impression that the
desert was steadily moving south into the temperate zones.
But satellite data show that Saharan/Sahelian boundary moves
north with rainfall in wet years such as 1994.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.
ITEM 3: HUBBLE PHOTOGRAPHS NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN GALAXIES
(replay)
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD:
Ray Villard 410/338-4514.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage
202/358-1727.
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The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00
p.m. and midnight Eastern time. NASA Television is available
on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with
vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz,
with audio on 6.8 megahertz.
Ray Castillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-4555.
The most recent NASA Video File Advisory can be found at:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt
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END OF DAILY NEWS SUMMARY